Court approves sale of Martino-owned Denver parking lots

The bankruptcy judge overseeing the case of radio host Tom Martino on Thursday gave a thumbs-up to a deal that passes ownership of several downtown Denver parking lots Martino had to a company held by fellow radio pitchman and buddy Matt Klaess.

The sale of the four lots, brokered by court-appointed Trustee Simon Rodriguez, nets the estate $350,000, which Rodriguez said would likely have been far less if not for this deal, he said in court papers seeking its approval. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Romero approved it on Thursday.

What made the transaction interesting for some was that Martino-owned Sherman Properties, which he once co-owned with two other since-departed investors, transferred its ownership stake in Sherman to Martino’s wife, Holly, on Jan. 17, 2009, a day after the two investors gave up their interests to Tom, court papers show.

Later that year, Holly Martino signed over half ownership in Sherman to Klaess-owned American Guaranty Equities for a sale price of $150,000. The assessed value of the lots is more than $2 million.

In a separate deal, Klaess — who’s had many financial deals with Martino through the years — loaned Martino $1.85 million and got a 50 percent interest in Martino’s Troubleshooter Network, though bankruptcy records now show TN is owned wholly by Martino and the loan is only a lien.

Too, the parking lots, according to Rodgriguez, were security on more than $17 million in notes Sherman had taken on them, though the Martinos and Klaess dispute the validity of $14 million worth of it.

So, rather than fight the sale from Klaess’ AGE to Holly Martino, Rodriguez brokered a deal where AGE gets the lots on Sherman and Grant streets for $350,000 and the money goes to the estate — and presumably creditors — and Holly inks over her half to AGE.

Martino has since petitioned the court to change his bankruptcy from a Chapter 7 to a Chapter 11 so he can deal with matters of settling his year-old case himself.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.